


Steady as the Rain

by Raven_Silversea



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Flame Mechanics, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 11:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16346018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Silversea/pseuds/Raven_Silversea
Summary: He wasn't the light drizzle of a tranquil rain shower like he was supposed to be. He was the heavy downpour of a thunderstorm, and sometimes it takes someone else to help realize that





	Steady as the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Colonello is Macario Delafosse in this. The reasoning ties in with a far longer story that I've been working on and off for years now.

Macario breathed in deeply, held the breath, and released it. He rested his face in his hands as he repeated the process over and over, hiding from the mirror over the sink. “Calm. I am calm. I am tranquil. I am calm, tranquil, Rain.” His calloused fingers dug into his sun blond hair. His next breath shuddered. A stray tear dampened his right palm.

The young soldier bit his lip and stood there for a moment longer. He released a shuddering breath. “Damnit.” Taking his hands away from his face, he used them to prop himself up over the sink. He stared down the drain, watching the tears rolling off his cheeks fall into the sink.

Three harsh knocks on the door broke through Macario’s stupor. He quickly wiped his face dry with his sleeve. “That you in there, Delafosse?”

“Yes, Capo.” 

Silence. “This is because of earlier.”

Macario turned his head away from the still closed door. His commander sighed from the other side, and he heard scuffling sounds. “Sit down, Delafosse. Lord knows I’m not standing for this conversation.”

Macario slowly shuffled over to the door and sat down with his back against the cool metal. “What conversation, Capo?”

“Flames, Delafosse.” Macario stiffened. “Omerta, Delafosse.”

“Vindice,” Macario replied instinctively.

“I’m no idiota. You’re a Rain, just like me.” His commander sighed. “And you’re supposed to be a tranquil negotiator. We’re supposed to be tranquil negotiators. The ones who keep the Family calm.”

Macario glared down at the tiles in front of his feet. “If that’s all you have to say, I’d rather not hear it.”

“Idiota,” his commander's voice lowered in her anger. “Rain isn’t tranquil. Rain rages. Rain screams. Rain destroys. They’re wrong because Rain isn’t always tranquil, but it is always steady, always needed, always reliable. It’s impossible to stop, and impossible to cage.” She fell silent before continuing, calmer now. “Rain isn’t always a soothing drizzle that washes the Earth clean. The rain in a storm can never be called soothing and tranquil. There’s a wildness about it. That same wildness is you, and it’s in me.” She gave a short bark of laughter. “An old man once told me that he would rather have the Rain of a storm at his back than the Rain of a soothing drizzle because he at least knew that the former would fight with their fists first if he needed them too.”

Macario let his commander’s words settle between them for a moment. “Rain flames aren’t tranquility. They’re steadiness,” he said. “Yes, they calm someone, but that’s so that their mind is clear and able to make decisions. They steady hearts, so the injured don’t bleed out as fast. They are there because they always will be.”

“Now, you’ve got it, and don’t you dare forget it. I haven’t spent the last few weeks remaking everything about you for nothing. If I’m not calling you, Colonello by the end of my career, I will be taking it out of your hide. Understand me, Sottocapo?”

Macarios smiled. “Sì, Capo.”

“Good, now get out of the head.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of a quick write for my creative writing class last year. Young Colonello- 19-21-ish cause he's out of bootcamp and probably served for a bit before applying to COMSUBIN (based on what I know about American special forces). Sottocapo is the equivalent of a seaman (E3 ranking, Private First Class in the army). Lal's rank is the Italian naval equivalent of a First Sergeant because apparently COMSUBIN is the Italian equivalent to the Navy Seals.


End file.
